So here we are then: the game that will ultimately define our season. Has the hard work been done? Yes, the foundations are laid, but there is still plenty of work to be done.
There have been many pulsating nights of European football at Anfield over the years, and most will live on in the hearts and minds of Liverpool fans for decades to come. You wonder if Wednesday’s 3-0 win over Manchester City will join them in the pantheon of legendary continental performances. Continue Reading
And so the biggest week of Liverpool’s season begins. The meat of the sandwich is the Merseyside derby on Saturday, but on this occasion the bread is the tastiest morsel on the menu; the Champions League quarter-final clash with Manchester City, with the first leg at Anfield on Wednesday and the second at the City of Manchester Stadium next Tuesday. Continue Reading
A Merseyside derby, sandwiched in-between the two legs of our Champions League quarter final with Manchester City, all preceded by a game against Crystal Palace which looks far easier on paper than it is in reality.
When he was quizzed on whether his side deserved their 2-1 win over Liverpool last week, Jose Mourinho’s response ranged from the defensive to the downright maniacal.
It is not a game that will live long in the memory of anyone who witnessed it, but Liverpool’s 0-0 draw with Porto on Tuesday was significant in that nothing went wrong. Nobody played abysmally, and nobody got injured. Ahead of Saturday’s trip to Old Trafford, we couldn’t wish for more.
Jurgen Klopp is a consummate professional, and so his post-match interviews are conducted with a stony-faced stoicism throughout, but even he would have been delighted with the 5-0 win over Porto in the first leg of this Champions League last 16 tie.
A change is as good as a rest, so the old saying goes, yet a more accurate mantra in football might be ‘a rest with no change is just as good.’ Liverpool’s early exit from the FA Cup had given them an extended break ahead of last Saturday’s clash with West Ham, and that was evident in the energy and vitality the Reds’ players showed from the first whistle to the last.
It seems like an eternity since Liverpool last played, and there can be no doubting that the rest will have done the players a world of good. They signed off on Valentine’s night in the most romantic way: a 5-0 drubbing of Porto that has all but booked our place in the Champions League quarter finals.
There are three things that Jurgen Klopp would adore from Liverpool’s Champions last 16 first leg tie with Porto: a win, obviously, but failing that an away goal or a clean sheet wouldn’t go amiss.